There were still twenty-five chimeras remaining.

Even though they had defeated a fair amount of them, it had taken a large toll on Desir’s mana to do that much.

If Desir was a Third-Circle magician, then he would have already consumed all of his mana and found himself in a critical situation. That was just how intense this fight was.

*Vruuummmm*

Desir started to invoke a spell again.

A powerful spear of thunder struck down and turned several chimeras in front of him into piles of ashes.

Even though each of his spells killed several chimeras simultaneously, Desir’s spells seemed weaker than before. Despite their dire situation, Desir had no other choice.

The chimeras had completely closed the gap between them and the two humans. Desir’s spell choice was extremely limited; taking even a second longer to calculate could be the difference between life and death. If he was able to cast a wide area of effect spell, he would be able to end the fight, but he would kill himself and Pram in the process. As a result, his only option was to carry out an inefficient battle, hoping it would be enough.

To magicians, this was an absurdly disadvantageous battlefield.

“Agh!”

While Desir was lost in his thoughts, Pram’s scream could be heard behind him.

Pram stepped back with a shoulder freshly sliced open by a chimera’s horn. He was not severely injured, but the Clothes Line now sounded an alarm.

[-Warning. Less than 20% of Clothes Line mana remaining. Defensive function is declining rapidly.]

Pram straightened himself. As much as he wanted to counterattack immediately, he was not able to do so.

*C-Claaang*

He was not fighting just one enemy. Since he couldn’t know where the dozens of chimera were targeting, he wasn’t able to penetrate their formation easily.

Due to the consecutive battles, extreme fatigue had accumulated.

Pram exhaled heavily.

“Haa… Haa… ”

A chimera’s attack seemed to have grazed his head at some point, as blood oozed down his face, hindering his vision.

His arms did not move as he wanted them to and he braced himself as his knees buckled.

It wasn’t just the Clothes Line reaching the limit of durability; his strength was declining too.

‘Aura as well… Similar situation here.’

The sparkle surrounding the sword was evidently dimmer than before.

It was slowly coming to an end because in order to face the powerful chimeras, he had to maintain a constant use of aura.

He went well over the aura consumption limit that an ordinary Rook Class swordsman could handle. Even Pram, who possessed far more aura than any other Rook Class swordsmen, obtained through intensive training, could clearly feel his limit.

He was only able to endure this long due to his precise control over his aura output. That alone was praiseworthy.

It would not be strange if Pram fainted right now.

“Pram, are you all right?”

Desir, even while arranging spells relentlessly, checked Pram’s condition frequently.

“Don’t mind me!”

Every time he was asked, Pram swung around his sword, shouting with a forced, cheerful voice.

He could feel fatigue draining every limb in his body, threatening to take even his consciousness, but he battled against it with all his might.

His rapier never stopped moving. No, he could not afford to stop.

‘If I faint here, Desir will have to manage my share of the fight.’

Pram straightened his weak legs. Legs that were on the verge of collapsing.

He read the trajectory of the incoming attacks that were arriving like a flood without losing focus.

He gathered his remaining aura and swung his rapier around like a madman.

More and more injuries accumulated.

Before anyone realized, his Clothes Line had lost all functionality and were no longer able to fulfil their role as Pram’s final defense. From now on, Pram remained just one blow away from a fatal injury.

Still, he continued to battle. It wasn’t a fear of death. It wasn’t because he had never fought with his life on the line; he had done so numerous times while battling alongside Desir.

But this battle was different. Pram realized he was the only one who could protect Desir, and that was what let him exert himself far beyond his limit.

Block it, then cut.

Pram’s spirit endured through his pure determination to protect Desir.

*C-C-Clang*

Pram, who held onto a clear reason not to faint, did not collapse.

He had long reached his limit, but rather than falter, his rapier’s trajectory became more fierce instead.

“Kraaaarghh!”

The chimeras, instinctively feeling some kind of danger welling up from Pram, stormed towards him.

As Pram watched the chimeras running towards him, he inhaled calmly. At the same time, aura welled up in his rapier and started to emit a bright glow once again.

He then took a step forward and struck out.

This time, his stab was different to the previous ones.

Condensed aura on his sword burst out and an aura filled with powerful force flooded towards the chimera.

The light extended out in all directions throughout the dark forest.

This was the stage reached by Pram in Desir’s past life. He had honed the technique known as stabbing to an impossible perfection.

Aura Drive.

*P-P-Pop!*

Five chimeras were swept by the aura’s ferocity and torn asunder without any chance to shriek.

“Huff… Huff… !”

Pram was astonished. He felt like a third party, watching the spectacle unfolding before him, even though it was of his own doing.

‘This is the… ’

He had reached the Bishop Class. He was able to release aura and not just wrap it around his body and sword.

Even while experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime emotion that warranted celebration, Pram did not lose himself in the moment. He checked his surroundings to ensure there was no imminent threat to Desir or himself.

Fifteen chimeras remained. It was still not the time to lower his guard.

Pram had taken in the situation and began to dash towards the next chimera, but the strength in his legs completely gave out.

“Hargh!”

Pram fell down with a short groan.

He had already long reached his limit, but still managed to pull out an attack that killed five chimeras in the one blow.

He no longer had the strength left to even lift a finger.

“Kreeughh!”

Seeing this as an opportunity, the chimeras started to leap towards the now helpless swordsman lying down on the ground.

[Parie Arund]

Desir’s spell swept away the pouncing chimeras in a single strike.

Desir seized this opportunity to relocate himself next to Pram.

“Don’t leave my side.”

He wrapped his arm around Pram’s waist and helped him stand up.

“I’m sorry, Desir. I couldn’t endure it after all… ”

“That’s all right, Pram.”

Desir arranged a spell while holding Pram up.

“You’ve done your part well.”

[Fire Storm]

Intense flames washed over many chimeras.

“B-But… ”

In Pram’s eyes, Desir’s spell power has noticeably dropped in comparison to the beginning. Desir’s mana must also be on the brink of running out.

“It’s all right. We can rest now.”

A chimera with the head of a snake sprung out, piercing through the flames.

However, it could not reach Desir.

*Pop*

Something flew in from somewhere and the chimera’s entire upper body disappeared in a fountain of gore.

A wind spell flew in at warp speed. The aftermath of that spell, which hinted at the power behind the spell, blew in and washed over Desir and Pram.

It was not a spell that Desir had invoked.

[Ice Empress]

The moment Pram felt the chilly air that smothered all life, he knew. He knew that the other Starling Party members had arrived.

When Adjest, Romantica, and Ronde joined them, the chimeras were handled easily.

[Kyprosa’s Grief]

A current of air, sharp as a blade, sliced through numerous chimera.

The wind bullet penetrated the chimera accurately even in the dark forest. There was no chimera that could block against Romantica’s attacks: the attacks of a magician who had reached the Fourth-Circle. Her wind magic had skyrocketed and was now a force to be reckoned with.

The chimeras were picked off one by one by the attacks flying in from the hidden enemy.

[Frozen Palace]

Adjest invoked Frozen Palace to contain the chimera so that they could not approach Desir and Pram. She then stepped forward and cut down the chimera one by one.

After Adjest widened the distance between the chimera and the party members, Ronde was able to arrange artillery style spells freely.

Their military strength as a group was overwhelming and dominating.

Desir alone handled more than half of the battle before they arrived. The result was evident.

When the battle ended, Desir stopped the spell that he had been arranging and retrieved Runel. At the same time, he flopped down next to Pram.

“Are you all right, brother?”

Ronde hastily approached him and took out medical supplies from his Clothes Line’s dimensional pocket.

Desir nodded and pointed at Pram.

“I just have a few scratches. Treat Pram first.”

“I’ll take care of Pram.”

Romantica approached and examined Pram’s injuries.

Pram, who continued to fight from the front line, even after his Clothes Line broke, was full of injuries. There were clear traces of blood from his shoulder and head.

Romantica disinfected his injuries, applied medicine, and dressed his wounds.

“None of his injuries were fatal. Luckily, there wasn’t any poison either, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“What a relief… ”

Desir sighed with relief and looked at Pram.

“Pram.”

Seeing Desir’s glance, Pram couldn’t help but be nervous.

“Hiding your own condition to the party leader could worsen a situation. This time, things went well, but it could’ve been very serious.”

“S-Sorry, Desir.”

“You need to be honest next time.”

Receiving a reprimand from Desir, Pram hung his head low like a puppy that had been scolded.

At that moment, Desir stroked his head.

Pram looked up at Desir with a puzzled expression.

“However, because you reached the Bishop Class in that situation, we were able to endure long enough for the others to arrive. You did very well, Pram.”

“Hehehehe.”

Pram’s downcast face brightened in an instant.

“Did you say Pram reached the Bishop Class?”

As the atmosphere loosened, Ronde cut in and asked with a voice dripping in envy.

“If you reached the Bishop Class, that means you’re one of the few hundred people who are extremely talented! That’s incredible!”

A Bishop Class swordsman was at a level where he or she could lay claim to the head position in almost every knightly order.

“You’ve earned it, Pram.”

Adjest put away her sword and strode over towards the party.

Finally gathered together, they started to share information on the current situation.

The fact that the chimera had been living here for the last few years.

Desir’s speculation that the chimeras were protecting something important here.

And the possibility that this was connected to the Outsiders, specifically Skull Mask.

The party members agreed in silence, as if anticipating the same conclusion.

Only Ronde, who had never faced the Outsiders before, turned deadly pale.

“The mastermind of the Outsiders? Is-Isn’t that extremely dangerous, brother?”

Des1r nodded.

“That’s right. If the Outsiders are connected to this, it wouldn’t be a matter that we could solve on our own.”

Skull Mask, a mysterious figure behind the collapse of the Holy Kingdom of Artemis as well as the mastermind that manipulated the Magical Kingdom from the shadows under the guise of the Prophet. If it was a scheme that he devised several years ago, it was definitely something that should concern the Starling Party and the Hebrion Empire.

“We just have to do what we can right now. First of all, we need to find out what the chimeras were guarding.”

“We just need to trace where they came from, right?”

Romantica understood her role well. She arranged a detection spell right away.

She quickly found where the chimeras had been nesting.

They would be able to discover what the chimera were protecting once they arrived there.